1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to broadband communication networks, and in particular to broadband communication networks utilizing coaxial cable.
2. Related Art
The worldwide utilization of external television (“TV”) antennas for receiving broadcast TV, and of cable television and satellite TV is growing at a rapid pace. These TV signals from an external TV antenna, cable TV and satellite TV (such as from direct broadcast satellite “DBS” system) are usually received externally to a building (such as a home or an office) at a point-of-entry (“POE”). There may be multiple TV receivers and/or video monitors within the building and these multiple TV receivers may be in signal communication with the POE via a broadband cable network that may include a plurality of broadband cables and broadband cable splitters. Generally, these broadband cable splitters distribute downstream signals from the POE to various terminals (also known as “nodes”) in the building. The nodes may be connected to various types of customer premise equipment (“CPE”) such as cable converter boxes, televisions, video monitors, cable modems, cable phones and video game consoles.
Typically, these broadband cables and broadband cable splitters are implemented utilizing coaxial cables and coaxial cable splitters, respectively. Additionally, in the case of cable TV or satellite TV, the multiple TV receivers may be in signal communication with the broadband cable network via a plurality of cable converter boxes, also known as set-top boxes (“STBs”), that are connected between the multiple TV receivers and the broadband cable network via a plurality of network nodes.
Typically, a STB connects to a coaxial cable from a network node (such as the wall outlet terminal) to receive cable TV and/or satellite TV signals. Usually, the STB receives the cable TV and/or satellite TV signals from the network node and converts them into tuned TV signals that may be received by the TV receiver and/or video signals that may be received by a video monitor.
In FIG. 1, an example known broadband cable network 100 (also known as a “cable system” and/or “cable wiring”) is shown within a building 102 (also known as customer premises or “CP”) such as a typical home or office. The broadband cable system 100 may be in signal communication with an optional cable service provider 104, optional broadcast TV station 106, and/or optional DBS satellite 108, via signal path 110, signal path 112 and external antenna 114, and signal path 116 and DBS antenna 118, respectively. The broadband cable system 100 also may be in signal communication with optional CPEs 120, 122 and 124, via signal paths 126, 128 and 130, respectively.
In FIG. 2, another example known broadband cable system is shown within a building (not shown) such as a typically home. The cable system 200 may be in signal communication with a cable provider (not shown), satellite TV dish (not shown), and/or external antenna (not shown) via a signal path 202 such as a main coaxial cable from the building to a cable connection switch (not shown) outside of the building. The cable system 200 may include a POE 204 and main splitter 206, a sub-splitter 208, and STBs A 210, B 212 and C 214.
Within the cable system 200, the POE 204 may be in signal communication with main splitter 206 via signal path 216. The POE 204 may be the connection point from the cable provider which is located external to the building of the cable system 200. The POE 202 may be implemented as a coaxial cable connector, transformer and/or filter.
The main splitter 206 may be in signal communication with sub-splitter 208 and STB A 210 via signal paths 218 and 220, respectively. The sub-splitter 208 may be in signal communication with STB B 212 and STB C 214 via signal paths 222 and 224, respectively. The main splitter 206 and sub-splitter 208 may be implemented as coaxial cable splitters. The STB A 210, B 212 and C 214 may be implemented by numerous well known STB coaxial units such as cable television set-top boxes and/or satellite television set-top boxes. Typically, the signal paths 202, 216, 218, 220, 222 and 224 may be implemented utilizing coaxial cables.
In an example operation, the cable system 200 would receive CATV, cable and/or satellite radio frequency (“RF”) TV signals 226 via signal path 202 at the POE 204. The POE 204 may pass, transform and/or filter the received RF signals to a second RF signal 228 that may be passed to the main splitter 206 via signal path 216. The main splitter 206 may then split the second RF signal 228 into split RF signals 230 and 232. The split RF signal 230 is then passed to the sub-splitter 208 and the split RF signal 232 is passed to the STB A 210 via signal paths 218 and 220, respectively. Once the split RF signal 232 is received by the STB A 210, the STB A 210 may convert the received split RF signal 232 into a baseband signal 238 that may be passed to a video monitor (not shown) in signal communication with the STB A 210.
Once the split RF signal 230 is received by the sub-splitter 208, the sub-splitter 208 splits the received split RF signal 230 into sub-split RF signals 234 and 236 that are passed to STB B 212 and STB C 214 via signal paths 222 and 224, respectively. Once the sub-split RF signals 234 and 236 are received by the STB B 212 and STB C 214, respectively, the STB B 212 and STB C 214 may convert the received sub-split RF signals 234 and 236 into baseband signals 240 and 242, respectively, that may be passed to video monitors (not shown) in signal communication with STB B 212 and STB C 214.
As the utilization of the numbers and types of CPEs in buildings increase (such as the number of televisions, video monitors, cable modems, cable phones, video game consoles, etc., increase in a typical home or office environment), there is a growing need for different CPEs to communicate between themselves in a network type of environment within the building. As an example, users in a home may desire to play network video games between different rooms in home environment utilizing the coaxial cable network installed throughout the home. Additionally, in another example, users in a home may want to share other types of digital data (such video and/or computer information) between different rooms in a home.
Unfortunately, most broadband cable networks (such as the examples shown in both FIG. 1 and FIG. 2) presently utilized within most existing buildings are not configured to allow for easy networking between CPEs because most broadband cable networks utilize broadband cable splitters that are designed to split an incoming signal from the POE into numerous split signals that are passed to the different nodes in different rooms.
As an example, in a typical home the signal splitters are commonly coaxial cable splitters that have an input port and multiple output ports. Generally, the input port is known as a common port and the output ports are known as tap ports. These types of splitters are generally passive devices and may be constructed using lumped element circuits with discrete transformers, inductors, capacitors, and resistors and/or using strip-line or microstrip circuits. These types of splitters are generally bi-directional because they may also function as signal combiners, which sum the power from the multiple tap ports into a single output at the common port.
However, presently many CPEs utilized in modern cable and DBS systems have the ability to transmit as well as receive. If a CPE is capable of transmitting an upstream signal, the transmitted upstream signal from that CPE typically flows through the signal splitters back to the POE and to the cable and/or DBS provider. In this reverse flow direction, the signal splitters function as signal combiners for upstream signals from the CPEs to the POE. Usually, most of the energy from the upstream signals is passed from the CPEs to the POE because the splitters typically have a high level of isolation between the different connected terminals resulting in significant isolation between the various CPEs.
The isolation creates a difficult environment to network between the different CPEs because the isolation results in difficulty for transmitting two-way communication data between the different CPEs. Unfortunately, CPEs are becoming increasingly complex and a growing number of users desire to connect these multiple CPEs into different types of networks.
Therefore, there is a need for a system and method to connect a variety of CPEs into a local network, such as local-area network (“LAN”), within a building such as a home or office. Additionally, there is a need for a system and method to connect a variety of CPEs into a local network, such as a LAN, within a building such as a home or office while allowing the utilization of an existing coaxial cable network within the building.